Rising from the Ashes
by Zentin
Summary: Lost among the dimensions, Naruto finds returning home impossible. Inevitably found by a particularly infamous mage guild, Naruto joins to repay the kindness shown to him. For his new friends in Fairy Tail, things haven't been right since the disappearance of several of their own. At their return, Zeref's legacies finally awaken from their long slumber, setting an ominous future.
1. X791

It was an excited, renewed, and high-spirited group of Wizards that we see on one April afternoon in the year X791. The S-Class Wizard Examines along with their partners, Master, and other higher ups of the said Wizard's guild that had disappeared seven years were finally returning home. Being placed in suspended animation, the group had only hours ago finally been released and were now in Magnolia Town, the home of their guild along with those who had come to find them. However, the direction that they were being led in was not in the direction of their old guild hall, but towards a patch of woods near the outside of town, where the group finally came upon a small wooden tavern that looked like it had seen better years, though still quite homey.

"Hey, what happened to our old place? And where is everyone? Aren't we missing some people…?" Lucy Heartfilia, the blonde haired celestial spirit mage asked, remembering the stone castle like fortress that had been so grand and majestic.

The now married gun mages, Alzack and Bisca Conell looked at a tanned dark blue haired man solemnly. His name was Macao Conbolt, who had filled the guildmaster position after the others had gone missing. He nodded with slight sadness in his eyes, giving the go ahead to them and they replied, "It was repossessed…and with you guys gone, a lot of people left…"

The group all looked up with surprise, alarm, and worry, fearing the worst. They all wondered amongst themselves how this could have happened. The third master, a dwarf-like man by the name of Makarov Dreyar and had balding white hair narrowed his eyes at the fourth guildmaster giving him a look that plainly stated, "Tell me everything."

The revealed fourth guild master Macao Conbolt's eyes darkened, becoming sad and burdened with the painful explanation of what happened for the past seven years to their beloved guild, "You should have seen this place and us two years ago…"

"Huh? Why?" a light blue haired woman and Solid Script Mage named Levy McGarden asked. The group had now sat down amongst the various tables in the guild's main hall that doubled as a tavern for the wizards of Fairy Tail.

Macao took a deep breath in trying to explain what had happened in the past seven years without being too depressing, which was pretty much impossible to say the least considering all that had happened, "Let's just say things weren't going so well after you guys all disappeared…Fairy Tail was in shambles and it was totally depressing. We were up to our ears in debt, and our reputation was shot as we didn't have the strength to do the high paying missions anymore. Without Master Makarov or you guys to hold things together it just made things undesirable to stay here. It was only made worse by the Twilight Ogre guild that started bullying us. They opened shortly after you guys had disappeared. We had borrowed money from them, but we couldn't pay them back because of their ridiculous interest rates. That alone nearly destroyed us…and we very nearly disbanded because of them."

The Fire Mage was prevented from speaking further when the feeling of a dark, vengeful aura erupted from several of the returning members. All of them, even sweet and gentle Wendy Marvel, had an angry glare or scowl on their faces.

"Twilight Ogre, huh? They did this to Fairy Tail? They made our guildmates cry? They'll pay!" the pink-haired Natsu Dragneel, the one with the shortest temper in the guild, said as he cracked his knuckles threateningly, along with the vocal agreement of the others members who chuckled malevolently.

Knowing of the volatile and somewhat violent personalities that were found in these particular guild members, Macao with the assistance of Jet and Droy managed to block the double doors before any of them could leave on a rampage that would result in mass destruction and chaos. Macao, with a stern tone that surprised all of those who went missing (as they had known him to be quite laid back seven years ago) crossed his arms and glared them into remaining seated, "Stop and listen for just a second! They're gone and they were already taken care of two years ago! There's no need to go on a wild rampage! They were brought down by Naruto, and later the Magic Council had them investigated for breaking several laws. They were disbanded as a result, and their guildmaster is serving time in a nice, comfortable prison cell."

The guildhall quieted down at this before the scarlet red haired swordswoman named Erza asked the question that was on everyone's mind, "Who is Naruto?"

* * *

_**Meanwhile…**_

A certain man, miles away from Magnolia Town and Fairy Tail, was waiting at a train station with his arms crossed and his expression filled with annoyance which was explained by his constant sneezing, "Achoo! Dang it, I can't stop sneezing, someone must be talking about me again!" Getting out a tissue he blew his nose and then proceeded to find a trash can, after which he then turned his attention to a certain man making his way through the bustling crowds, which led to him calling out to him.

"Hey Gryder, get your butt over here and hurry up, or we're going to miss the train back to Magnolia!" The blond haired, blue eyed man spoke, his eye twitching expressing his ire towards the man impatiently, "Seriously, I thought your teleportation skills made you faster than the average wizard. You're so slow; I'm becoming an old man here!" This was Naruto Uzumaki. He wore a black t-shirt that had red kanji lettering going down the right side of the front which was underneath an orange vest. With this, he wore blue jeans and black geta sandals, the traditional elevated kind that made the slap-clop sound whenever one walked.

He was twenty two years old and far away from home, the former shinobi had become well accustomed to life in Earthland. Now a proud member of the Fairy Tail guild, he, Gryder, and Warren had formed Team Maelstrom, after his name and their reputation. They had just taken care of another minor dark guild that had been extorting a number of villages along Fiore's eastern border. Taking them out was relatively easily, though it was concerning as this wasn't the first of recent dark guild activity. This mission was the thirteenth incident that had happened in the past two months, and since most of the dark guilds part of the Baram Alliance, the non-aggression pact between the various dark guilds, had been relatively quiet for several years, it concerned many of the legal guilds and the Magic Council that the dark guilds of Fiore were up to something.

"Yeah, yeah, blondie, just because you're a monster compared to everyone else doesn't mean that you have to rub it in, and besides why do you want get back so soon anyway? We finished the mission days ahead of schedule, so why the rush? We can stay a couple extra days can't we?" Doranbolt, or Mest Gryder as he was now known, abandoning his old name and past, was a tall, slate black haired man with several scars across the left side of his face from an accident that happened when he was still working for the Magic Council. He was wearing a brown leather jacket over an earthy green shirt with brown cargo pants, and black combat boots. He was also wearing fingerless gloves with metal plating that had several studs that acted as brass knuckles for his hand to hand combat.

It might be surprising to some that this man was the same person who infiltrated Fairy Tail's S-class exams seven years ago to find any dirt to shut the guild down, in which he did all for the sake of getting a promotion by the Magic Council. However, the past seven years had been a life changing experience for the former workaholic, which explained Doranbolt's more laid back persona as he leisurely walked towards the blond haired man with his hands in his pockets.

"Sorry, but I got word that Macao had some important news to tell us when we got back. He didn't want to rush us, but I really don't want to make him wait either, so we're heading back to Magnolia now."

"Really? So what's up?" Thus entered Warren Rocko, the final member of the trio and Fairy Tail's new elite team who did all of the harder missions that had been offered since the A-teams had disappeared. Warren eyed their team leader curiously, wondering what the guildmaster could have wanted to let them know. He approached with train tickets in hand which he then proceeded to pass on to his teammates. Warren was wearing a white long sleeved shirt underneath a green tunic which was outlined with bright yellow, with white pants that were tucked into his knee high riding boots to complete his ensemble, giving him a very medieval or renaissance appearance. His dark brown hair was spiked up in a slight fohawk.

"Hey Warren, I'm sorry the old man didn't say anything in particular. He did say it was good news though, but we had to see it to believe it." The blond haired man replied with a nod to his other teammate, "But anyways, we've got to go, the train's about to leave."

The two other men looked at each other confused. It was usually protocol for Macao to not contact them on missions. Given the skills of the three, Naruto, Gryder, and Warren made an excellent infiltration and information gathering team, and as such Naruto had made it clear to Macao to avoid contacting them during missions to prevent their covers from being blown.

Naruto's skills as a ninja, combined with Gryder's teleportation and memory manipulation abilities, and Warren's strong telepathic and budding illusion powers had helped make undercover work a breeze, allowing them to take down bandits, gangs, and dark guilds down from the inside. They were so successful, the Magic Council could scarcely believe that they were Fairy Tail wizards at all, given the lack of the destructive tendencies that the team showed that Fairy Tail was known for.

As the three friends and teammates sat down in an empty compartment, Gryder grinned deviously, "So Naruto, mind telling when you were going to let us know about your "training sessions" with Kinana?"

Naruto looked at the man cluelessly, "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on man! Don't be like that! We know about you and Kinana having that private time together! You're making a move on her aren't you?" the telepathic Warren teased the leader of their team.

The blond haired man blushed furiously finally realizing what his teammates were getting at, crossing his arms he looked away embarrassed, "Hold on a second! It really isn't like that! We're really are just training together! She asked me to help her learn how to defend herself, but its totally not like that… Besides, I still have to find a way home..." and the former ninja looked down slightly depressed and the mood darkened.

It had been three years since Naruto appeared in Earthland. Fairy Tail was aware of Naruto's circumstances of how the ninja had been sent to this dimension, though the story behind it was still a mystery. Naruto, outside of official missions and his self-proclaimed duty to help Fairy Tail get back on its feet, had been researching for a way to get back, but had come up with dead end after dead end. Even with the notes that had been left behind by former Fairy Tail member Mystogan who had also traveled to Earthland from another dimension, as well as Gryder's contacts in the Magic Council, there still was little to go by in regards to Naruto returning home anytime soon.

Naruto had been working with the sealing arts, hoping that dimensional travel could be achieved, but navigating the dimensions was like the blind leading the blind. There were so many risks and dangers in dimension jumping that the chances of not only finding his home dimension, but also surviving the trip were infinitesimally slim.

Silence ruled for a while after that, Gryder and Warren were embarrassed slightly that they accidentally brought it up, knowing better than most it was a hard subject for Naruto to talk about. The blond didn't speak about his past much, but what information those in Fairy Tail were able to glean was that Naruto had been fighting a war against a man who had been aiming to take over his world. Somehow, a rip in the dimensions had occurred during a massive explosion during the battle which pulled Naruto through and sent him flying across the void space to Earthland. The only reason that Naruto survived was pure dumb luck.

After a while, Warren being frustrated with the quiet, the telepathic mage voiced his thoughts, "Naruto? Are not happy here?"

Naruto was startled at what Warren had asked him and stared at his teammates for a long moment before looking down sadly, "I am… happy here, although I will admit that no matter what happens, I will always have a longing for home. I love that Earthland and Fiore at least for the moment have not seen war for a long time, at least not on the scale I have. I want to do what I can to make sure that always remains the case, but I will admit that peace is very fragile and also never a perfect pearl. So many sacrifices and so much suffering has to be made to obtain it, and yet we humans desire it more than anything whether we want to admit it or not. Whether its peace within ourselves or world peace the cost remains ultimately the same, and yet in the pursuit of it, hoping to complete ourselves we often end up hopelessly destroying it." And on that note Naruto, normally filled with life, light, and joy once again became uncharacteristically quiet.

The blond haired man looked out at the passing landscape, watching the landscape change from rocky mountains to rolling hills and plains as they journeyed westward through forests, towns, and villages, heading home towards Magnolia Town. Warren, realizing that the blond was depressed again, sighed showing obvious frustration that his attempts to cheer up his team leader had failed and was not really sure what to do, but surprisingly Gryder got up and placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder getting the former shinobi's attention.

"Even if you don't find a way back, just know that we're always here. You helped us out of our darkness, so let us do the same for you. You don't have to carry this burden alone." The memory manipulator gave the blonde an encouraging smile. Naruto looked to see Warren doing the same and finally the Uzumaki returned it smiling a small smile.

"Thanks…I'll remember that…"

* * *

Hello, I am still alive and I have been wasting so much time doing other things. I apologize for the lack of updates regarding my other stories, and chances are this will be the last thing I will do once I start working, but I'll do my best. Please review when you can, and let me know what you think...


	2. Fights and Long Conversations

Author's Note: Thank you all for the reviews as it is very encouraging to me! Please note, that I have changed my writing style somewhat. As a result, I might go over the first chapter in order to keep it congruent with this one. There is less prose and a lot more dialogue. In fact, I fear there might be too much dialogue in this chapter, but regarding the Reunion scene after the separation where everyone remaining in Fairy Tail is talking, I don't have much of a choice. So, please enjoy and continue with the reviews.

To those who have asked me about who Naruto will end up with, I am not necessarily a fan of pairings in my stories unless they're already cannon. Nearly every Naruto x Fairy Tail crossover has him eventually dating somebody, and it's usually Mirajane, Erza, or Lucy. Not that that's a bad thing, but you have to admit that it's a bit cliché and overused. Some people said that I had thought to hint at a relationship between Naruto and Kinanna, but I already confirmed within the story that Naruto doesn't view it that way, and I really don't think he will _considering at this time,_ he is still looking for a way back home. A romantic relationship within the guild means another attachment to Earthland, which would make it emotionally difficult for our favorite knuckleheaded ninja to think of leaving. That's just who he is, never wanting to be alone and always going that extra mile for the people he cares about. That being said, I have a few surprises that I am going to try to throw in eventually, but as of now, no pairings.

Also, as a heads up regarding this chapter, please note that I have included some characters that are parodies to other shows for your enjoyment. I think you'll be able to spot them pretty easily, and if you do, tell me what you think! Again, thank you for your encouraging words and reviews, I really appreciate it, but enough of this, I now present to you Chapter Two: Long Conversations!

* * *

_Memory Days: Arrival_

_Fairy Tail Guild- Three Years Ago_

_The skies above Magnolia Town in the Kingdom of Fiore were normally sunny, but the occasional thunderstorm did occur every once in a while. In considering this, Guildmaster Macao Conbolt of the Fairy Tail guild thought it the perfect time to address the massive amounts of paperwork that needed to get done. Though normally not one fond of thunderstorms, Macao was strangely soothed as he worked, hearing the rain pelt against the roof and the thunder roar outside. With the stressful situation that was now reality for Fairy Tail, the massive amounts of debt, and the lack of missions to pay the bills, Macao also had to deal with the constant harassment of the Twilight Ogre guild that prevented him from getting his work done. That being said, he really didn't want to be disturbed as everyone would be indoors on a day like today, including the goons from said_ _guild._

"_Master, come quick!" a man's voice frantically called from the tavern. _

"_Not now Max, I'm busy! I have to get all this paperwork taken care of by the end of the day or the Magic Council will have my hide!" Macao shouted back as he sat at his desk which was covered with several stacks of files, documents, and papers that looked extremely important. _

"_But Master, it's an emergency! Forget about the paperwork!" said mage peeked into Macao's office his eyes showing panic and frustration. _

"_What?! I don't have time for this!" Macao got up angrily and stepped out into the tavern next to his office in the back, "What is the matter? I'm bus-…"His rant dying on his lips as he saw a severely injured blond haired man being carried in by two other mages, Alzack Connell and Warren Rocko all who were soaking wet. _

"_Oh my goodness! What happened to him?!" Laki Olietta a lavender haired woman with glasses covered her mouth in surprise, her eyes wide in shock and horror as she and Alzack's wife, a green haired woman named Bisca rushed over to help the men carry the man inside. _

"_Warren, who is that?!"Wakaba Mine, a brown haired man with a thick beard and smoking a cigar looked on worried as the other men carried the unconscious blond inside._

"_We don't know! We just found him along the side of the road! We know we weren't supposed to move him, but we couldn't very well leave him there to die especially in this weather!" Warren replied, his red, orange, and white ensemble was ruined with the mysterious stranger's blood._

"_Alzack, Warren, Max, lay him here on the table, quickly! Bisca, Laki get me the first-aid kit, some rags from the storeroom, and some hot water now!" Kinana, a dark violet haired woman with pale skin and wearing a mint green dress directed them and began examining the mysterious blond haired man._

_After several moments of Kinana examining him, to everyone's surprise (as he had been quiet and distant since the disappearances four years before) Macao's son Romeo gazed on with worry, "Will he be okay?"_

_Kinana hesitated before answering, "I… don't know to be honest…I'll do the best I can…he has several broken bones and lacerations across his entire body, and I can't tell if there are any internal injuries…if Wendy were here, she would be able to fix this no problem."_

"_Just do the best you can," the guildmaster replied placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He turned to an orange haired mage and ordered, "Jet, go to Porlyusica's house and tell her it's an emergency! Bring her back here even if you have to drag her here!"_

"_But…" the man's reluctance was obvious, and Macao very well knew why regarding her rather negative disposition towards humans, but now was not the time._

"_Now Jet!" the fire using mage growled out, and Jet rushed out at an unbelievable speed into the darkness and rain._

_It was a long afternoon which soon turned to evening and then night for all of them. All of them wondered who the man was. Where did he come from? How did he get so badly injured? There were so many questions to be asked. Porlyusica did come, though she obviously wasn't happy about walking in the rain. She, along with Kinana, and Macao stayed the whole night at the guild, taking care of him._

_In the very early hours of the morning, Porlyusica announced, "He's stable… for now anyway. Make sure this fool doesn't do anything too strenuous when he wakes up. For now, I leave him in your hands. Don't bother me again for a while…"and she packed up her things and proceeded to leave._

"_Umm…Ms. Porlyusica, thank you for coming to help. You saved his life."_

_Porlyusica sighed in annoyance, but then seeing the grateful expression on Kinana's face instead replied, "You did very well, despite your inexperience in healing. Now I must go…"_

_The younger woman blushed at the praise, and bowed slightly as the other woman left the guildhall. Macao sighed at the aloof veteran's demeanor, but turned to Kinana seeing that she was exhausted._

"_Kinana, you need your rest, go get some sleep. I can keep watch."_

"_But…"she hesitated, not wanting to leave her patient besides she had to open up the guild in a couple of hours._

_Macao gave her a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, I'll handle opening up the guild, you just go get some sleep."_

"_Yes, sir."_

_Magnolia Town-Today_

"Dad, where's my bag?! Romeo and I were going on a mission with Antonio and sensei as soon as he gets back!" a young girl called out with a annoyed frown on her face. She had chestnut brown locks of hair, and was wearing a white and yellow sun dress that showed off the developing beauty of a young girl growing into a young woman. She was currently looking underneath her bed, upon which she shuddered as she realized she definitely needed to clean out underneath as it was extremely cluttered.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that June! I didn't tell you what happened yesterday did I?" June's father's voice answered her from several rooms away.

His answer confused her, so she decided to give up on searching for her bag for a moment; she left her bedroom and found her father finishing getting dressed and ready to head to the guildhall. She asked with her eyebrows raised, "What do you mean, what's going on?" and then she remembered something from the night before, and she glared at Wakaba with her left hand on her hip, her right hand reaching for a particular object in her sundress' pocket, her wand. "Oh that's right, you weren't home until late last night! You didn't happen to be perving on Laki and Kinana again were you?" She pointed her wand at her father threateningly.

The chain smoker and mage froze at the accusation, not that he was afraid of his daughter's very powerful and very dangerous _**Void Magic**_. No, he certainly was not afraid of her. "Uh…no of course not, June! Why would you think that?" But June continued pointing her wand at her father with a narrow eyed glare which spelled ominous and painful consequences if he was caught lying. Okay, maybe he was a little afraid…actually yes, he was man enough to admit that he was absolutely terrified when June got like this.

She narrowed her eyes at him, slapping her wand against her palm, showing a great amount of irritation, "Because I know you…Mom wants me to keep an eye on you while you're at the guild, remember?!" Yes, he did indeed remember. Ever since June joined Fairy Tail two years ago, that was the task her mother had placed upon her young shoulders. Cecilia Mine was well aware of her husband's perverted nature. She'd have to be blind and deaf not to notice, and so that's why she allowed June to join Fairy Tail even though June was still going to school. The prospect of becoming a better wizard was just an added bonus.

"Alright, fess up! What is it?" June smirked as she withdrew her wand when her father let out a nervous sweat drop. He was obviously terrified of her….Yep, she still had it.

With the withdrawing of her wand, Wakaba relaxed slightly and then he smiled, "You'd never believe me even if I told you…"

Raising her eyebrow inquisitively, "Okay…you have my attention now; you're never one for keeping secrets! Spill!"

He waved her off, "Sorry, no can do!" and he proceeded to head to the front door leaving for work.

Running up to him and grabbing onto his arm, she begged him to tell her, "Come on Dad, tell me! Please?!"

He laughed, his mouth lighting up in a huge grin, and it was then she noted that he seemed more at ease than he had been for a long, long time, "Wait until we get to the guild!"

Looking up at him thoughtfully, she asked, "Does Mom know?"

Wakaba smirked, but kept his mouth shut, "She does…I told her last night…That's why she's already there!"

This took June by surprise. Her mother was not a mage, but an owner of a small bookshop that was frequented by many members of Fairy Tail. Freed, Levy, Lucy, and Mirajane, four of the lost members of the guild were particularly common in being sighted browsing amongst her store's bookshelves. Unfortunately, Cecilia was extremely busy with her work, and rarely had time to visit her husband up at the guildhall, so for her to actually leave her beloved bookshop for the day meant something big had happened.

June responded to her father's comment with shock, "Mom's at the guild? Why? She never goes to the guild!"

He ruffled her hair affectionately, and then walked out the front door still smirking, "You'll see…come on, let's go!"

June was about follow him, but then remembered she had forgotten her bag, "But what about my bag?!"

"Don't worry about it! Come on!"

* * *

June's jaw had dropped. The sight of every single one of the lost members of Fairy Tail, who had disappeared seven years ago and had not changed or aged at all, were gathered around celebrating with their friends and loved ones in the only way Fairy Tail ever could- loudly, lively, and lovingly. June had been out of town yesterday, so that was why she missed the celebrations from the night before. Also there, were most of those who had been left behind seven years ago. The only one absent from this group was Nab, and many of the newer members who joined within the past three years were all out on jobs. All in all, there were about twenty five to thirty people within the small tavern, making it quite loud and crowded.

"NO… FREAKING… WAY! How is this even possible?! They're…They're…!" the thirteen year old Void Mage, unable to finish speaking, stood there stammering incomprehensible mutterings.

"Hey Wakaba, good to see you!" welcomed the beautiful white haired S-class mage known as Mirajane Strauss. She along with her younger sister Lisanna and Kinana, were expertly balancing serving trays loaded with several beer mugs filled to the brim and delivering it to the various guild patrons. Seeing Wakaba's daughter gazing on in shock, Mirajane gained a nostalgic expression and smiled at her, "Is that June? It is! Long time no see! You certainly have grown up!"

"...Mirajane?!" June could not believe it, but she rushed over and gave Mirajane a hug. Mirajane would often watch June when her mother was busy, but she wasn't at the guild nearly as often as Romeo was who was over nearly every day.

"See, I told you wouldn't believe me!" Wakaba roared in laughter heading over to where Macao and his wife were, taking his usual seat next to the fourth guildmaster at the front counter.

"Explain! Now! Please?!" June asked with tears of happiness in her eyes looking at her father and Macao from around the waist of the much taller woman.

Before Wakaba could answer, Laki spoke up from her corner by the stairwell as she confirmed what happened, "Master Bob's, Hibiki's, and Naruto's hypothesis turned out to be true!"

"It was?!" June's eyes widened. She, along with many of the others in the guild had managed to move on with Naruto's help, and most of the newer members since Naruto's recruitment were about to give up hope of ever seeing the lost members ever again, but deep down she knew her father and several others still maintained the hope that they would return, as unlikely the possibility was.

"Hypothesis? What are you talking about?" The Third Master asked, and the conversation around the room began to settle down as everyone began to listen in on what was being discussed.

Macao answered his predecessor, "Yeah, it was shortly after he came to the guild…Naruto enlisted the help of Blue Pegasus to figure out what happened when you guys disappeared. They were able to find irregularities in the field of magic around where Tenrou Island was. Naruto realized that some sort of space-time magic had been used, and Master Bob was able to confirm the existence of Fairy Sphere. This fit the description of a spell powerful and widespread enough for you to avoid being destroyed by Acnologia. So imagine our relief when they were able to confirm that you guys were most likely alive."

"So that's why you weren't particularly surprised during Master Mavis' speech…you already knew what happened!" The blue haired _**Solid Script **_mage Levy McGarden exclaimed in realization.

"That's right!" and everyone turned to Alzack who had spoken up, but his voice then turned serious, "However, even we didn't know when you guys would be set free. You guys were very lucky according to Hibiki's calculations. The massive amount of magic used in powering the spell changed the length of time of its duration. It was not supposed to last nearly as long as it did. We were afraid you could have been frozen in time much, much longer, perhaps even forever."

The guild as a whole, silently chewed on that thought for a few moments, slightly scared that something like that could possibly happen. Not dying, but not living at all either, merely lost in time. A horrible existence that one could never escape…

It was Lucy who brought out everyone from their musings, "Okay…moving on to a more pleasant conversation topic, you were going to tell us more about this Naruto guy, right?"

Makarov picked up where Lucy had left off, "Where is he anyway? I would like to meet the man who saved our family…"

Cracking his knuckles, Natsu, always looking for a fight, grinned as he declared, "Yeah! I totally want to fight him; if he's amazingly strong as you guys are saying…I'm all fired up thinking about it!"

Behind him, a shirtless Gray Fullbuster sat next to a fawning Juvia Lockser, his hand waving over the glass of his choice of soft drink, causing the ice within to seemingly dance up and down within the glass. "I don't know Natsu….you might have to get in line!"

Turning to face his rival and teammate as he narrowed his eyes challengingly, Natsu growled, "Oh yeah, popsicle brain, you'll have to get through me first!"

Gray scoffed and stood up getting in Natsu's face, "Yeah right lizard breath, like you ever could take me on!"

"Say what?! You take that back!" and the two mages once again made entertainment for everyone else by dissolving into a fist fight right in the middle of the guildhall. However, before they could end up destroying the guildhall, Erza, ever the disciplinarian, grabbed them by their heads and smashed them together, causing them to comically collapse on the floor.

"That's enough you two! No more fighting!"

They groaned in pain, though both glared at the red-haired swordswoman causing everyone to laugh somewhat nostalgically, "Yes, Erza…."

Wakaba laughed with the others, "Oh yeah, this brings me back! But to answer your question he's out on a mission with Warren and Doranbolt, or you should call him Mest Gryder right now. He should be back soon, as apparently they got finished early yesterday afternoon. They were at the train station in Toria Heights buying tickets for the ride back which is a day's journey at its shortest."

"Doranbolt?" Natsu asked thinking over why the name seemed so familiar in his head until he remembered, "Wait a minute, that guy's from the Magic Council! He infiltrated to get dirt on Fairy Tail!"

Macao smiled somewhat sadly as he remembered what happened to the man after the disappearance of Tenrou Island, "You're right…he did...but he ended up joining because Naruto invited him. Gryder spent two years investigating what happened to you guys, long after everyone else gave up. Naruto had taken Warren on the first big job that we had in four years. It was worth five million jewels investigating some disappearances of civilians in Kennicksburg, which turned out to be kidnappings by a dark guild. We weren't going to screw it up, so I sent Naruto, and he asked for Warren to come along. Along the way, they found Gryder depressed, guilty, and trashed drunk in a bar. Naruto confronted him, and then invited him to help out. Gryder ended up joining the guild after the mission, and the rest is history. They're currently our best team right now…"

"WHAT?! No way!" several shouts of disbelief came from around the room.

"That Naruto, I swear it's strange. He helps people in ways they don't even realize. You'll have to see it to believe it, but the first thing you have to understand about him is that he has a unique power that goes beyond any of his magic." The orange haired speed wizard named Jet added his own input.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Mirajane as she handed another mug filled with beer to the orange haired mage and his two teammates Droy and Levy.

Jet smirked deviously as he raised the mug to his lips, turning his attention to his black haired teammate, "He gets people to want to change themselves, to become better than what they are. For example, Droy what did Naruto make you do?"

Growling angrily, Droy glared at Jet, daring the man to continue in the telling of what he was up to during the seven year separation, "Dang it Jet! Do you really have to put me on the spot like that?!"

Jet continued smirking, very much enjoying the rise he was getting out of his best friend, "Yes, yes I do. Do I need to bring out the pictures?"

The muscular black haired wizard's eyes widened in horror, showing extreme amounts of panic at the mention of the particular photographs that he had personally disposed of, or at least thought he disposed of, "Where are they, I thought I destroyed them all?!"

On the other side of the room, the pictomage Reedus brought out a certain photo album seemingly from nowhere, "Here they are Jet!"

Droy went immediately into damage control mode and made an effort to grab said album and hoping to put an end to all of its incriminating glory. "Seize the evidence! Levy can't see those pictures! She'll laugh at me forever!"

Max called out as Reedus passed the album to him, "No way! Keep away from Droy!" and thus began an epic game of keeping the said pictures away from a very ticked off Plant Mage. Max in turn passed it on to Laki, who passed it on to Jet, who passed it on to Kinanna, who passed it on to Vijeeter, who passed it on to Natsu, who then dropped it, but it landed right in the lap of one Iron Dragon Slayer, Gajeel Redfox…who began cackling insanely as he opened it to have a look.

"Gahahahahaha! Look at you! You're so fat! You totally blimped out!" Gajeel laughing at Droy's expense and the missing members crowded around and began staring at the pictures in shock.

"Whoa, that's bad…" replied Gray, his eyebrows hidden by his spikey black hair in surprise.

"No way…" Lucy and Lisanna, being more polite than some of their other guild members, many of whom were following Gajeel's example in laughing hysterically at the poor mage, opted to just to stare to compare the images of Droy and Nab from what they remembered seven years ago.

In the photos, Droy weighed over three hundred pounds, drastically different compared to his very thin frame seven years before. Nab, who was strangely absent, was nowhere near as heavyset as Droy, but still significantly and unhealthily overweight. However, looking over at Droy now, you couldn't even tell he'd ever been that fat, as the fat all had been replaced with rock-hard muscle.

"That particular picture I believe was taken four years ago. Huh, I wondered where those pictures went. Good job Reedus." Wakaba grinned, patting the artist mage on the back.

"Thank you, I do my best." The artist and mage replied proudly, pounding his fist against his chest while Droy glared at him angrily.

Levy sighed, shaking her head at Droy in exasperation, "Oh Droy, it isn't that bad," upon saying this she received some very incredulous looks from several members of the guild, "Besides, I know you too well. You always eat when you're depressed. Besides you look pretty good now. Did Naruto train you?"

"Actually, he trained all of us to some extent…" Max replied which then caused him to shiver in some sort of unspeakable terror where he then muttered, "I never want to go through his crazy training again." From those who were left behind during the seven years, excluding Macao, Reedus, and Wakaba who all grinned as they were the only ones who were not put through hell, the same shiver of terror and fear was shared with great intensity.

After the feeling had passed, Vijeeter stopped his celebratory dance routine and exclaimed, "Yeah, he even got Nab to go on missions!"

A pin could be heard amongst the silence caused by that statement, which lasted for a good three seconds before a disbelieving exclamation was expressed loudly, "WHAT?!"

In response, Alzack rejoined the conversation which he and Bisca had been ignoring as they were paying more attention to their daughter Asuka, "I don't know what he said, but apparently he and Nab had a long private discussion, and from then on Nab's stupid mentality on finding the perfect mission for himself had been changed, and he started going on missions again. That's why Nab's not here. Actually, he's been on a mission for about a week now…"

Gajeel slammed his fist against the round table, getting frustrated that they had been talking for several minutes now, but no one seemed to want to ask the most important question, "So how powerful is this guy really? And don't you dare dodge the question this time! You guys have been avoiding that question since last night!"

In response, Gajeel received several uncomfortable looks, "What?"

"Well to be honest, we're unsure on how to answer it. Only when he's in a serious fight, or training does he use his true magic at all, if we can call it that. So to be totally honest, I don't think we can even begin to understand how powerful he really is because with the exception of Warren, Gryder, and maybe Antonio, none of us have actually seen Naruto fight at all." Bisca murmured in reflection of the blond haired man.

"You don't know what type of magic he uses?" the water mage Juvia asked, a curious expression on her pale complexion.

Jet and Droy looked at each other, their gazes nervous and uncertain on how to answer, "We do know a little bit. If he had to specialize in something then his _**Clone Magic**_ would be it because that's what he uses the most around us, that and _**Rune Magic**_."

"He knows _**Rune Magic**_?!" Freed and Levy exclaimed, both very experienced in the usage of _**Rune Magic**_.

"Yeah, and he's not just good with barriers, although his focus is more towards the _**Sealing**_ _**Rune Magic**_. He's able to do all sorts of things that the makes our heads spin in circles."

While everyone was still recovering from the last bomb on Naruto's abilities, Lucy asked for everyone's benefit, as most of them had never heard of it, "What's _**Clone Magic**_?"

Master Makarov rubbed his chin in deep thought as he spoke, "It's an incredibly useful and rare magic, but also very taxing on the reserves. It's similar to a _**Thought Projection**_, but it's a much less stable version in that it's not just a hologram but a solid copy of yourself. Most users can make at most a dozen before they exhaust themselves and are limited because they can't use any other magic because a person's reserves are divided amongst the clones evenly, thus making their magic weaker. But this Naruto is definitely interesting; not only can he use _**Clone Magic**_, he can actually use it effectively enough to use other forms of magic?"

Max crossed his arms and smirked, "Effectively is putting it mildly Master."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Erza gazed at the sand-using mage surprised, her eyes narrowed suspiciously trying to figure out the secret.

A moment passed where those who had been left behind glared at Max for not being more specific, before looking at each other with more uncertainty. Finally, Alzack rubbed his forehead as if a migraine had set in all of a sudden before he answered bluntly, "We don't know what Naruto is entirely capable of because he is able to form a couple hundred easily."

"_**A-A couple hundred?!**_" Makarov spit out his beer, chocking on the alcoholic drink in shock and surprise, causing everyone to show concern for their aging Third Master. Fairy Tail's Ace, Gildarts, who used _**Crash Magic**_, gained an interested expression.

"This guy is sounding pretty interesting! Maybe I'll take him on!" Obviously, this caused many uncomfortable looks to appear on the faces amongst the more sane members of the guild, including Gildart's recently revealed eighteen year-old daughter, Cana.

"Please don't; you'd cause the end of the world if you did!" Cana muttered with frustration over her father's devil-may-care attitude, the normally touched barrel (yes barrel) of alcohol still filled to the brim showed how curious she herself was about the guild's new powerhouse, well, new to her and the other lost members anyway.

"Nah you old man, I'll be the one take him on!" Laxus gave a shark-like grin showing he was also very interested in fighting the man.

Laxus' former teammates, the Thunder Legion which included Bickslow, Freed, and Evergreen, started cheering for him, "Yeah! Go Laxus! Go Laxus! Goooo!"

Natsu glared at them, angry that they wanted to fight Naruto, complained, "Hey that's not fair! I was the one who called dibs on fighting him first!"

Gajeel and Gray glared at the pink, or I should say salmon-haired dragonslayer, challenging him by cracking their knuckles as a show of intimidation, "Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it?"

The situation only got worse when Elfman raised up his arms shouting out his trademarked phrase, "He sounds like he's a real man! I'll be the one to take him on!" and from there the room devolved into a regular brawl of thrown punches, lots of testosterone, thrown beer mugs, and broken tables. That is, until Natsu smashed right into Erza, causing her face to hit her plate which held her precious strawberry shortcake with whipped cream frosting. Immediately, all action in the guild stopped.

"You idiots smashed my cake!" and from there the situation in the guild truly fell apart as Erza punished all of them, bringing out her swords to bring about justice for destroying her favorite food. As a result, where before, the situation was a normal guild fight, now the situation was complete and utter chaos where only Lucy, June, Macao, Alzack, Bisca, Asuka, Makarov, and Mirajane, along with Wendy and the three catlike Exceeds- Happy, Carla, and Pantherlily managed to somehow remain out of the fighting

"Why do you idiots always have to destroy the guildhall whenever you fight?!" Makarov and Macao wept as one as the two masters saw the guildhall be reduced to complete rubble.

Regardless, the situation was distracting enough for everyone to miss a new face walking into the guild. He was a teenager, looking to be about thirteen, but something told you that he was actually older. He had short, dark brown, almost black hair, and bright blue eyes. He was wearing heavy black combat boots, blue jeans, and a white t-shirt underneath a blood red vest. The vest bore a Flamel symbol* on the right breast pocket. As he approached, he held up his hand in greeting, "Hey guys, what's going-…what the HELL?!" His eyes wide and his voice exploded causing everyone, including Erza, to freeze.

"Oh Antonio, you're back…" Macao greeted the young man with a wave and seemed to sigh in relief as Antonio's very presence stopped everyone for a moment in their brawl.

Antonio looked at the perpetrators who were destroying the guild with an apathetic stare, though his voice's tone told he was quite frustrated with them, "I was gone for a week…I was gone for a week after I spent seven and a half hours drawing completely new alchemy arrays to fix the guild after the last fight you had, and you all just messed it up _again_…that's just great."

"Tony…are you okay?" Romeo raised his eyebrow slightly, worried that they had pushed the, in reality, fifteen year old teen off the deep end this time.

Holding up a finger, Tony sighed, attempting to calmly release his explosive anger that those who had been left behind had become quite familiar with, "Do not interrupt; I am currently restraining my temper."

He seemed to be nearly successful in continuing the breathing exercises, until one Iron Dragonslayer decided to question the newcomer while commenting on the teen's lack of height. "Hey, who's the short kid?"

Absolute silence, then panicking, Macao dashed over to the black haired dragonslayer and got on his hands and knees begging dramatically, "Gajeel, quick! Apologize now!" But it was too late…

To the resignation of everyone who knew him for the past year and to the horror of those who would quickly become acquainted with him, Tony exploded in a volcanic rage, "How dare you call me a short little pipsqueak, you jerk! What the hell is the matter with you?! Do I look like a half-pint midget to you, huh?!" In a flash of _**Requip Magic**_, in Antonio's hands appeared not swords, not a gun, not a knife or bow, but two wooden baseball bats, and he marched right over to the much taller mage screaming every word.

Gajeel smirked, not intimidated in the least, and answering the much shorter boy with an annoying, almost condescending drawl, "Actually…" He didn't finish his sentence when all of a sudden the teen somehow caused a flash of lightning to occur around his hands and then attacked catching the older man off guard, "Ouch! What the hell?!"

Tony continued to attack relentlessly, forcing the Iron Dragonslayer to defend himself, only to realize that the teen's baseball bats were now made out of some hard, black metal like compound which now held a blue glow or aura as the teen channeled his magic into them, "I'LL SHOW YOU LITTLE! _**GRAND SLAM**_!" and with all of his strength he smashed Gajeel forcing him to transform his arm into iron scales. Surprisingly, Tony managed to push the larger man back about five feet.

"He's scary!" Happy screamed, crying fearful tears hoping that Tony wouldn't turn his rage on him.

Gajeel grinned like a shark, transforming his entire arm into a black studded steel pole, "Not bad you little brat, but playtime's over, prepare to be squashed!"

"I'm fifteen, you dolt! I'm not a little brat! I'm still growing!"

June on the other side of the room muttered exasperatedly, "You wouldn't be so short if you just drank your milk!"

Antonio glared even more irately at the younger girl, causing those who were watching to wonder how that was even possible, "Shut up June! I don't have to drink if I don't want to! Milk is for babies!"

Gajeel snorted, "Well you're sure acting like one, shorty!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" and then once again a brawl took place as the others welcomed the dark haired boy with open fists.

While the guild was further reduced to rubble by the bar fight, Freed somehow managed to creep away from the chaos and approached Fairy Tail's Third Master, "Master, that boy's magic…"

Looking over at the green haired wizard understanding his concern, "Yes, I know… That was _**Battle**_ _**Alchemy**_ wasn't it? The ability to reshape matter and energy into anyway one desires…You would know to recognize it as it's a rune-based magic…If I hadn't seen the _**Transmutation Circles**_ engraved into his baseball bats, I would have assumed they were imbued with lacrima that would cause the transformation or thought it was some sort of _**Transformation Magic**_."

The Fourth Guildmaster sighed as he watched the chaos tilting his head to slightly to expertly a avoid a thrown beer mug, "Yeah, that's Antonio or as he likes to be called Tony. He's the son of the late Dr. Davíd Rivera, you know the world famous alchemist? Tony is admittedly a genius, though most blame that as influence from his father, but there's more to it than just that. Antonio is normally a pretty nice guy, just really sensitive about his lack of uh… height." Macao sighed again in resignation as he explained why Tony was rampaging, "Gajeel just committed the guild's newest ultimate taboo by calling him the 's' word. He joined the guild a little over a year ago."

Lucy muttered, her tone showing she was almost annoyed with all these proverbial bombs were being dropped because of the same person, "Let me guess…Naruto also had something to do with this story?" How much change could one guy cause?

Apparently a lot because Wakaba then confirmed, "Sort of, well actually yes, though that's a story for another time…Antonio seems to be responding well, we were wondering what would happen when he came in first contact with you guys!"

Lucy got in the smoke mage's face, demanding an explanation, "This kid has a hotter temper than Natsu, and you say he's responding well?!"

Holding up a finger for a moment to explain, hoping to calm the beautiful Celestial Mage down, "Well, were just thankful he has the ability to fix almost everything he destroys!"

Erza at this point had enough with all the fighting and a demonic red aura surrounded her, "This is getting way out of hand…you idiots need to stop fighting _**now**_!" In an instant, most of the guild stopped their brawl with the exception of Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, and Tony. Erza was about to take care of them personally, but June called out reaching for her pocket and pulling out her wand.

"Don't worry Master, Erza, I've got this!" Erza stopped surprised that June wanted to help and was about to say no until Macao reluctantly nodded to June.

"June, don't hurt them too bad…and please keep the damage to the guild as minimal as possible this time!" but knowing where this would eventually end up, he got up and started walking up to the staircase in the back, "I'm going to bathroom...please for the love of all things don't destroy the guildhall beyond repair this time!"

June smiled wide and devious, but nodded nonetheless, "I won't make any promises, but I'll try!"

Lucy, not wanting her to get hurt, stood to stop her, "Wait! What is she doing?!"

Cecelia, who had just watched the guild's normal craziness with practiced ease, placed her hand on Lucy's shoulder, "Just watch…"

A strange white glow began surrounding her as she stepped forward to deal with the four remaining fighters, her tone meaning business, "Put a sock in it you idiots and stop fighting!"

Tony, so enraged about being called short, continued wrestling with Gajeel, "No way! He called me smaller than a midget, baby beansprout! HE MUST PAY! I WILL HAVE MY VENGEANCE!"

Gajeel held Tony down, his considerable strength easily holding Tony down, "Well, that's cause you are, shrimp!"

Clapping his hands together, Tony forced Gajeel back as sparks of blue energy activated the _**Transmutation Circles**_ on his baseball bats and he transformed them into midnight black blades, and attacked Gajeel, forcing the man to parry with his _**Iron Dragon Demon Sword**_, "You backwater, mangy metal head! I WILL USE MY CONSIDERABLE POWERS TO VANQUISH YOU!"

Gray, while wrestling with Natsu, just looked on Gajeel and Tony with amusement. "Wow, they're even worse than as us…"

Natsu scoffed at this, "As if Ice Queen, no one can be as lame as you…"

Gray glared, insulted by the comment from his rival (best friend), "What was that Firebreath?!"

Natsu punched him in the face, "Clean the ice out of your ears, Snow Stripper! I said you're lame!" and he then realized that once again, Gray was in his boxers, "And put some clothes on!"

Shocked at his mysterious loss of his clothes, Gray screamed, "Gahh, how the heck did that happen?"

Being ignored, however, caused June to clench her fists in anger, and as a result she unconsciously began releasing magic power which froze the Tony in his spot in fear, while Gray Natsu, and Gajeel continued to duke it out, "_**YOU GUYS**_...!"

Droy and Jet realized it was too late for them to intervene, as much as they might want to help, and said gloomily, "Oh no, they're in for it now…"

Max, also became depressed when he realized what was going to happen, whined in a broken voice, "She's going to wreck the guildhall again…"

Realizing he was about to be punished for not listening, Tony begged frantically, "Wait! I'll be good! Please don't do it! June, have mercy!"

Not intimidated by the little brown haired girl in the slightest, Gajeel teased Tony, "Wow, you really are a baby!"

Tony in a combination of fear and anger, not bothering to defend himself from the younger girl's wrath, and stuttered, "Shut up, you jackass Neanderthal! And thanks to you we're getting-"

At that moment, June breathing heavily in her anger, had had enough of the boys fighting and pointed her wand directly at them, a ball of glowing white and rainbow colored energy forming which caused Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel to begin seeing why Tony was so afraid of her, "_**Void Magic: Explosion Force**_!" and she released the built up magic energy that she had accumulated in one giant burst which sent the four men flying out of the guild hall and into the sky, screaming like little girls all the way.

Most of the A-teams who had been been in suspended animation just stared at the young girl in shock for several long moments, not even bothering to comment on the massive, giant hole she had made in regards to the punishing the four mages. For the older members, there was a strange sense of deja vu as they were eerily reminded of two other girls who were just as destructive and prone to rages when they were younger. As one, both old and new members, left behind and lost, the guild stared at said women Erza and Mirajane with disgruntled and annoyed looks on their faces.

"What?" they asked innocently.

In reply, everyone resentful because of another excessive guild enforcer exclaimed, "You're bad influences! She's just like you two!"

In response, the two women complained at being blamed for June's abilities and magic,"Its not our fault!" and they immediately turned their heads to guild's resident smoke-using mage and pointed. "He's the one who allowed her to learn magic!"

With everyone staring at him now somewhat murderously, Wakaba tried to explain himself,"Again, a side effect caused by Naruto! It's not my fault!"

June smirked deviously, loving that her father was in trouble,"It's all your fault, Dad! After all I wouldn't have learned magic if you didn't insist on being a pervert!"

Wakaba started crying dramatic tears because of his daughter's indifference to his plight, "How can you say something like that about your loving father?!"

June deadpanned, over emphasizing Wakaba's flaws, "BECAUSE ITS TRUE!" and father and daughter began once again having their own argument over Wakaba's parenting techniques.

Happy looked up in the sky, the blue cat with the white tail now terrified of June, "She sent Natsu flying away…"

Next to him Carla, a totally pure white Exceed wearing a red and yellow dress, had frowned and crossed her arms disapprovingly,"Well they kind of deserved it…they were being highly inappropriate after all."

The final member of the Exceed trio, Pantherlily, a black cat who had a small sword attached to his waist, nodded his head, "Agreed, though June's actions may have not of been the best idea….this hole in the wall seems a bit excessive."

Hearing footsteps coming down the staircase, everyone turned their heads as Macao called from above,"June! I thought I told you to keep the damage as minimal as possible?!"

June huffed in frustration, replying sarcastically as she explained the need for her actions, "Well I'm sorry! You said it was getting out of hand, and I figured this was the quickest way to end the fight! Besides, you can ask Tony to fix it later."

Macao's eye twitched at her nonchalance about the guild's currently damaged state, "That's not the point!"

June complained, demanding to know why Macao wasn't happy with the results of getting the boys to stop fighting,"Then what is it?! You know those guys won't stop unless you use some serious force to get them to cut it out!"

It was then Cana muttered from around her raised beer mug as she gulped down the alcoholic confection,"Yeah, but now that Natsu knows you can do that, he's going to be begging you for a fight..."

June froze, realizing that perhaps her actions were a bit excessive, and then screamed,"AAAAAHHH! HOW COULD I HAVE BEEN SO STUPID?!" causing everyone with the exception of Lucy and Wendy to laugh at the brown haired girl as she freaked out dramatically.

In resignation, Lucy asked the younger, blue haired dragonslayer,"How come even after seven years, you and I are still saner than everyone else in the guild?"

Wendy replied, equally resigned to the fact that they were both part of a guild filled with freaks and weirdos,"Good question…"

* * *

_Meanwhile at Magnolia Station…_

Mest declared as he, Naruto, and Warren walked out of the Magnolia Train Station, "It's great to be home!" After an overnight ride from the Toria Heights on the far east end of Fiore, the group had finally made it back to their hometown without much trouble.

Warren replied with a relieved sigh, "Yeah, it'll be good to kick back and relax. I think that I'll stick around the guildhall for a couple of days, and then take a vacation to see my parents…What about you Naruto?"

Unlike the other two, Naruto remembered something, a particular promise to go on a mission with a certain threesome, and he immediately replied depressed over the fact that unlike his two teammates he would not be able to relax,"I'm going on another mission…"

His two teammates looked at him in confusion until they realized why he was going on another mission so soon, "Oh, June and Romeo cornered you didn't they? Ouch!"

Naruto replied, a resigned smile on his whiskered face, "Uh-huh, and to make matters worse, Tony's coming along too…"

His teammates cringed, "Double ouch! Why didn't you say no?"

In a depressed monotone, Naruto replied, "Because I'm interested in their progress, and Macao asked me to. He's asking me to oversee the effectiveness of their teamwork, remember? He's thinking of them representing Fairy Tail for this year's Grand Magic Games."

Surprised that Macao was actually thinking ahead towards the now yearly anticipated event nearly four months away, Warren asked,"Really? Are you going to participate?"

The blond haired man sighed, "I would prefer not to, but considering everyone's reactions regarding last year leading to the fact that we didn't even participate, Macao might have a limited list of willing participants."

Warren replied with a grin,"Well, you never know. You have been working everyone into the ground, especially Jet and Droy. Jet's speed has increased tenfold since you gave him those gravity seals, and Droy is physically the strongest guy in the guild next to you."

Naruto muttered in a low tone, "You guys could participate…" Mest and Warren both had made it clear that they didn't particularly like the Grand Magic Games. However, Mest didn't like the games because he was suspicious about the event due to its mysterious origins, and that every year that he had attended, he felt this malevolent magic that somehow reminded him of a certain dark wizard he had met right before Tenrou Island had vanished. However, since he had no way of proving it, he kept his suspicions to himself, opting to give the same excuse as Warren.

Warren answered his team leader's statement, "Nah. You know its not really our thing, and besides our magic is not really suited for the types of competitions that they choose, remember? The battle portion would leave the both of us at a disadvantage, especially against those guys from Sabertooth."

Naruto looked at his friend with slight exasperation over his assessment of their abilities,"True, but I still think you are underestimating yourselves. Warren, you know it's not necessarily the strongest fighters who win battles, but the ones who plan and are willing to give it their all."

Warren rolled his eyes, slightly annoyed, "Yeah, yeah…huh, uh what's that?" and they along with the townspeople around them looked up as they saw what looked to be a human meteor falling from the sky.

Mest sighed, exasperated with his guildmates, "Oh no…"

Warren also resigned to the fact that his guild was filled with fight happy idiots, asked rhetorically,"June blasted them again?"

The blond shinobi team leader nodded in confirmation,"Uh-huh…"

The former Rune Knight replied, "Yep."

Shaking his head, Warren said,"Wonderful, just wonderful."

Naruto pulled his teammates aside seeing that whoever it was, was about to land within five feet of them, "I think we better get out of the way…" and they retreated as sparks of blue lightning was seen coming out of the human rocket as it fell towards the ground.

The person who was about to land screamed, "INCOMING!", but the person was saved from serious injury when the ground transformed into a soft, powder, sand-like material. "Ouch!"

Naruto, knowing immediately who it was, approached the man made crater, and looked down with an annoyed glare, "Hi Antonio! Nice to see you dropping in…_again_."

Shocked and startled, Tony Rivera looked up at the face of the man who took him to Fairy Tail when his father died. "Sensei?! You're back! Whoa, oww!" he said as he attempted to climb out of the hole he had made.

With hands on his hips, Naruto pointed to the street. He was not going to pay for this! No way. "Fix the street…" and Tony looked sheepish.

Warren sighed, knowing the teen probably got into a fight with a certain brown haired girl,"Let me guess, June did that to you?"

Tony growled angrily, "Yeah, I ticked her off by fighting with some guy in the guildhall; he called me a tiny, midget, beansprout! Huh? Where'd he go?" and he looked around for the person he had been fighting, and realized that they must have been sent flying in different directions.

Mest facepalmed, well knowing that the boy had an incredible tendency to overreact over being insulted because of his height, "So he just called you the 's' word? Only in our guild…"

Naruto asked curiously, "Was it a client?" Even though business was better than it had been three years ago, Fairy Tail was still nowhere near its former glory. Fairy Tail really needed clients, and it would have been bad if Tony had scared off business because of his actions, as he had done that before. It was only six months ago that Macao and the guild's business committee made the announcement that they were confident in the guild's financial state to start saving up money to buy back the original guildhall. Max, because of his business experience, was the guild's accountant, and estimated that it would take about 45 million jewels to buy back the original guildhall and restore it to its former glory. It was an expensive task, but well worth the cost that everyone had begun putting an effort into and they had so far raised five million jewels.

It would be quicker if they had someone to do S-class missions, but Naruto, as much as Macao wanted him to, couldn't give him permission to do so because Macao himself wasn't qualified to do them even though he was the Master. Thankfully, Naruto and his team received the occasional mission from the Magic Council and the Rune Knights, although they were reluctant considering they still held great dislike for the rambunctious magical guild.

Tony replied annoyed as he thought about what happened to the guildhall while he was gone on his mission, completely unaware of Naruto's thoughts about Fairy Tail's financial state, "Heck if I know. There were a bunch of people there in the guild today, a lot of whom I didn't recognize, but several of them were fighting and messing up the guildhall, _again_." He pulled out a piece of chalk and began drawing a _**Transmutation Circle**_ in front of the crater before clapping his hands and activating it. In a few short moments, the cobblestone street that had been used as a landing pad for the alchemist mage returned to its former state as if nothing happened to it, with only the slightest markings that _**Alchemy**_ had been used.

Mest raised an eyebrow inquisitively,"Wait, fighting? So you weren't the only one?"

Tony growled angrily, "Yeah, everyone was having a beat down in the middle of the guildhall when I arrived. They stopped when I arrived, but then that jackass had to go call me short, and I got ticked off at him. Then June blasted us into the stratosphere for fighting..."

"Hold on a second! Did any of those guys have pink hair?!" Warren's eyes widened when he realized that there hadn't been such a big fight since the disappearances seven years ago.

Looking at the _**Telepathy **_using mage, Tony thought about it for a moment, rubbing his chin, "Pink hair? Now that you mention it, yeah one guy did. The jerk I was taking down had all these piercings around his body and really creepy red eyes though…why do you know them?" but as soon as he confirmed what Warren had asked him, the man had dashed off leaving the others behind him in a rush.

Surprised at the unusual behavior of the brown haired wizard, "Hey! Warren, what's wrong?!"

"I think I know what happened…" Naruto replied as he crossed his arms, wondering if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

Mest confirmed it was probably a bad thing for their sanity. A good thing that they were back emotionally as many still missed the lost members dearly, but definitely a bad thing for Fiore's infrastructure,"So, they finally have returned, just like you said they would. The Council is not going to be happy about this!"

Naruto began walking with Mest leaving his student behind in great confusion, "Great, given the stories that everyone has been telling me about them, I have a bad feeling that the Council is going to be ticked off at me for some reason…and all I want to do is relax!"

"It'll be okay Naruto, chances are they're going to be just as mad at me too! We'll figure something out!" Mest patted his shoulder comfortingly.

"You mean that?!" Naruto exclaimed in gratitude.

Mest smirked at him, and Naruto immediately glared at him,"Hell no! You're on your own! It'll be payback for all the torture you've put us through!" He should have known that Mest would do something like that, leaving him out to the dogs to be eaten alive.

"Torture?!" The former shinobi turned mage glared at his teammate angrily, demanding an explanation, "You jerk! Everything that I've done for you and the rest of the guild has been for your benefit! It's not my fault that you guys have no self-control! After all, you're the one who decided to use that remote-controlled lacrima bomb that if I may remind you, nearly destroyed the historical district in Oak Town! Macao was ready to murder me!"

The former Rune Knight turned private investigator and guild mage in question smirked even wider at his team leader,"Oh really, and who gave me those lacrima bombs in the first place? In fact, who invented them?!"

Naruto sighed reluctantly at his blunder by giving the brown haired man said explosives,"Yes, I admit that I invented them, but I specifically told you and thought you had the sense to only use them in areas that no one would mind the destruction caused! I got chewed out for _five hours_ because of the mess you made!"

Mest simply replied as he walked on ahead,"You're the team leader, and as such you are indirectly responsible for the incident for inventing such useful yet destructive objects…"

The blond man shouted at his subordinate, "That's crap and you know it! Get back here so I can teach you some proper manners!"

Holding both his hands up in mock surrender, the memory manipulator replied in a tone that he was not at all afraid of the blond haired man,"Oh, I am so scared!" and Mest ran off teleporting away from both the blond and his student.

Growling angrily once again, Naruto began laughing an evil laugh as he rubbed his hand together and plotted against him,"Dang it Mest, I'll get you for this! Oh yes, be prepared, for your doom is nigh! Believe it! You have unleashed the prankster from hell, muahahahaha!" and he too ran off leaving Tony on his own.

As this was all happening, Tony still had no idea what was going on, and he called out, "Can someone please tell me what's going on?!"

* * *

_**Flamel Symbol, Alchemy, and Antonio-**_ the Flamel symbol is the traditional symbol that represents alchemy. It is a cross wrapped up within a snake underneath a crown with wings.

Alchemy or rather Battle Alchemy is borrowed from Fullmetal Alchemist. There are going to be slight differences which will be explained, but generally the effects are the same, and Antonio's story will hopefully eventually play out.

_**Void Magic, Wakaba, and June**_- Void Magic is borrowed from the Familiar of Zero. Its properties are mysterious and varied, being able to cause explosions, teleport, and even erase people's memories. Such is June's power. Her focus is her wand, but it is still Caster Magic because its coming from her body even though she's using a magical item. The wand is the focus for her magic, and although she can use her power wandlessly, its much more stable with the wand than without it. You'll definitely see what I mean in later chapters.

It has been confirmed that Wakaba is married and has a daughter. In canon, June is not named or mentioned except in the very beginning and right after the time skip. She's the same age as Romeo. In canon, she wants to join Twilight Ogre, although Wakaba has been trying to convince her to join Fairy Tail without much success. However, I think it's all with good reasons considering all he does is stay at the guildhall hanging around with Macao, is a serious pervert, planned to divorce his wife if Mirajane went out on a date with him, and in general is just not a good father because his daughter is never around in canon! Even in the Grand Magic Games where his wife and daughter should be present with the rest of the guild supporting them, they are invisible, nowhere to be found…

In canon, he's an absent father, and he constantly complains about his marriage, and though he has never been able to cheat on his wife because everyone in the guild would certainly lose all respect for him, Wakaba's perverted actions are despicable for a Fairy Tail mage and any decent human being and NO ONE addresses this. Macao's situation is different because his wife walked out on him, and Romeo has grown up admiring his father because Macao actually cares, but not even Macao, Wakaba's best friend, reminds him of the simple matter of respect in regards to his wife and daughter. June's barely even mentioned in the manga, and seen maybe once standing next to Wakaba's wife in the Fantasia parade in the anime. It's all wrong. Wakaba's daughter has joined Fairy Tail with the stipulation intact that she keeps an eye on her father, even though she really shouldn't be expected to do that. However, as a result of June joining, an understanding has been somewhat made between Wakaba, June, and Naruto which will be explained.


End file.
